Improveiyieisitvln car-stairfers



E. G. GODDARD.

Y CAR-STARTER. I No.1 87,1z7. Patented Feb.e,1a77..

NJ'EIERS. PNDT-LITHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON, D, C.

ltension or draft.

Specification forming parthofhLettersiFatent No. 18,7.,ll2ligdated February 6,1877; application tiled September 5, 1876.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, EZRA G. GODDARD, of East Saginaw, in the county of Saginaw and State of Michigan, have invented au Improvement in Gar-Starters, of which the following is a specileation The nature of my invention relates to au improvement in car-starters of that class wherein the draft is temporarily applied to the axle, through a ratchet and pawl, until the axle is put in rotation; and its object is to interpose a lever between the draw-bar and the pawl, in order to let the team travel a greater distance, aud expend less power in starting the car. The invention consists, mainly, in the combination of a lever with the draw-bar and the sliding pawl-frame 5 also, in the combination of certain devices for throwing the pawl into gear, and for retaining it out of gear with the ratchet, as more fully hereinafter set forth.

Figure l is a bottom plan of a horse-car, or a portion thereof, showing the positions of the several parts when the draw-bar is under Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section taken along the angular line a; or, showing the parts in their relative positions when the draw-bar is under draft. Fig. 3 is a similar section,- showiug the positions of the several parts when the draw-bar is fully retracted by the spring to allow the pawl to eugage with the ratchet. Fig. 4 is an inverted perspective view of the sliding pawl-frame, the pawl audits attachments, the draft-spring, and the lever interposed between the pawlslide and the draw-bar; and Fig. 5, a vertical section ou the line y y iu Figs. l and 3.

In the drawing, A represents one of the axles of a horse-car, transversely journaled under the sills of its bed. B is a ratchet on the axle at one side ofthe draft, and is straddled by a slot in a pawl-slide, C, having a longitudinal play iu stirrups a a under the transverse girts of the bed-frame. D is au elliptic spring, interposed between a block ou the upper side of the slide O, and the girt next in front thereof, thus tending to push back said slide. E is a lever, pivoted by a bolt, b, at one end to the under side of a girt of the carbed, and, by a'link, c, near the middle, to the pawl-slide, its free end playing in a segmentpin, g', arrests its, extreme rearward movement.

In the rear endof the slot of the slide O there is pivoted a pawl, h, having a pendent lug, t', near the heel, and at this point the said slide has a lateral projection, o,uuder the eudof`which is pivoted a lever, j, one end ofwhich comes behind the lug t', while the other is, by a short chain, lo, connected with the end of a C-spring, Z, fastened behind the next crosssill back of it, and the tendency of which is to throw up the pawl out of engagement with the ratchet until the chain k is slacked up by pushing back the draw-bar and slide as far as the stop-pin g will allow, as seen in Fig. 3, in Whichvcase the said pawl will drop onto the ratchet, but otherwise the said pawl will be lifted up, as seen in Figs. 2 and 4. Once drawn out far enough to lift up the pawl, the draw-bar is prevented from receding far enough to release it, until desired to use it in starting the ear, by the following means:

Under the platform the draw-bar hasa longitudinal slot, m, eut in it. A leaf-spring, Gr, is secured at one end under the front girt of the platform, and carries a pin, n, which projects up through a hole in the stirrupfaud into the v slot m when the draw-bar is drawn out, but from which it may be ejected by pressing down a foot-piu, H, resting ou the free end of the spring G, aud projecting up through the platform. If the driver desires to engage the pawl with the ratchet he presses down this pin H, Awhen the spring D will act to throw back the drawbar and the slide far enough to let the pawl drop onto the ratchet 5 as soon as the draw-bar is drawn out, in the advance ofthe car, to draw up the pawl, the piu n will enter the slot m and prevent the draw-bar from receding again enough to re-engage the pawl. A hood or .guard should be placed on the platform to prevent the foot-pin from being accidentally pushed down. By having the draft come upon the spring D, the horses7 shoulders are less liable to be collar-galled, as the spring eases'up the shock of a sudden pull in startto the ratchet B on the axle, the springfD,le-.

"1 Witnesses:

ver draw-bar F, in @culmination with a means for automatically disenggillg Said pawl from the ratchet, and a. means for arrestingl the full retraction of said draw-bar, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the slotted slide G G6, ratchet B, and spring D, of the pawl hz',

lever j, chain k, and spring l, all constructed andarranged sghstantially as described and shown.

EZRA G. GODDARD.

JOHN J. FLoon, JAMEs MAOK, 

